NORFOLK (Virginia aEUR”) On a hot evening at a local food pantry in this waterfront town, many people in the line have just come from work. Justine Lee, a bank teller, hadn’t been to a food bank before this year’s crazy prices. She laughs and says inflation is “a lot of fussing among mothers and daughters”.
She hopes to use this moment to teach her 11 year-old daughter the value of money. On a recent shopping trip, she found that her daughter preferred Doritos over the less expensive store-brand chips. Lee drives to work, and she says that she used to not think twice about filling up the gas tank. But it was empty yesterday. She drove on to the next place she thought would be cheaper, which was 5-10 cents. “And then, I realized that I was really doing it. ”
Lee is one of many people who are turning up at food banks across the U.S. in a “drumbeat” of increasing demand month after month, according to Katie Fitzgerald, president and CEO of Feeding America. The highest inflation rate in 40 years has hit food. The cost of food, as well as other essentials like rent and gas, falls hardest for households with lower incomes and little flexibility.
Monique Wilson, a school bus driver from Norfolk, started visiting the pantry a few months back “just to supplement our food budget.” Her husband and she have reduced their eating out and, to cut down on gas, Monique Wilson uses her car as much as possible. “Trying to make one trip for all and get in as many stops as I can,” she says.
Robert Walton is a regular visitor. He and his wife have two grandchildren. He grabs a shopping bag and chooses bags with juice, applesauce and sunflower seeds.
He says, “Little snacks such as this, that’s the thing the kids like when it can be had.”
He doesn’t just mean his own. Walton said he has visited several pantries and brought food to other children in his community. Walton says that many people who lost their jobs during the pandemic still don’t work and that they can see that their children are not getting enough food. It’s been terrible.
Walton is thankful for the delicious food. He and others have reported that some of their favorite foods are missing. And it has been difficult to find meat. Because even though demand is increasing, food banks are having difficulty meeting the demand.
Christopher Tan, president and CEO of the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia & the Eastern Shore shows off a dark storage space with no shelves. He says, “This would normally have been much fuller.”
This is partly due to the fact that food donations have dropped in part. According to him, grocery stores became more efficient in processing online orders during the pandemic. They don’t have as many extra donations. Supply chain delays are also disrupting the normal turnover process. Sometimes items that were delivered within a few weeks might not arrive for several months.
“Breakfast cereal, pasta, pasta sauce. These are staples for almost all food banks, right? Tan agrees. It’s difficult to find.
These delays are so severe that he ordered turkeys for Thanksgiving to make sure they arrived on time.
There’s also the issue of cost. Tan will have to buy more food from the open market, at higher inflation-driven prices, because there are fewer donations. An item in the budget that cost a little less than a million dollars prior to the pandemic will now cost nearly $5 million. Tan claims that his fuel budget has increased by almost two-thirds and that he is now competing with Amazon and rising wages for drivers. Five of the eight delivery truck drivers he currently has are not available.
He can’t pass on those costs to customers like private businesses do. He says, “We don’t get to say, “We’re going to double our food costs,” ” “Because the cost of food is still zero, it’s not worth doubling it.”
Fitzgerald from Feeding America says that providers across the country are switching to cheaper products and limiting their visits to food banks. They also “stretch their inventory to be in a position to meet more people’s needs.”
All of this is happening as the emergency pandemic assistance for rent and child care has ended or will soon end. Fitzgerald’s group asked Congress to provide another emergency funding infusion to support its pantries and other programs buying food. Tuesday’s announcement by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack included $2 billion of new funding to support food supply chains.
Fitzgerald states, “Our experience shows that the rise in fuel and food costs is creating just as precarious an environment for people trying to feed their families”
A survey by Urban Institute found that one in six adults depended on charity food, which is still a high percentage compared to pre-pandemic levels. The survey found that black and Hispanic adults were almost three times more likely than white adults to use food pantries. There has been no decline in this rate since the beginning of the pandemic. This data was collected in December before inflation caused food prices spikes.
Even though the overall economy is booming, Blacks are nearly twice as likely to be unemployed than the national average.
According to Feeding America’s Fitzgerald, low-income households feel the greatest impact of rising prices because they spend more on their necessities than others. On average, food accounts for nearly a third their budget.
Fitzgerald believes that persistent hunger is a sign of wider inequality. Wages have been falling for decades, especially for those who don’t have a college degree, while housing, healthcare, and education costs have risen dramatically. This is why the nation’s charitable food system wasn’t designed to address these disparities.
She says that 40 years ago, the program was an emergency food service for those who had no other options. “Today, we see a lot more people who budget in charitable food to their month budget. This is a problem because many of these people are working.
Everett Jones has retired from a career as a touring stagehand. His wife and he live in a Virginia Beach senior living apartment and receive food stamps. He says that food donations have been an “absolute necessity” for them over the years. Inflation is now forcing them to make difficult choices.
He says, “The gas prices have become so high that I must cancel my doctor’s appointments.” They’re too far.
After being hospitalized for a heart condition, Jones has put off his physical therapy, allergy shots and a cardiology follow up. Jones claims he cannot afford hearing aid batteries.
“It’s a lot stress, a bunch of worry, and a lot self-denial about things we shouldn’t have to deny.”
Jones jokes that he might get a horse-and-buggy to cut down on gas. Jones doesn’t know what he will be able do without if the prices continue to rise.
